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CFLib.org FAQ
The Questions
What is the purpose of CFLib.org?
Who created CFLib.org?
Hey, I downloaded a UDF here that didn't work!
Should I do anything before submitting my UDF?
What standards are required of submitted UDFs?
What happens to my UDF after I submit it?
Will my UDF be modified?
What if I find a problem with a UDF?
What does it mean when a UDF returns a Boolean?
How do I update my UDF?
What is the purpose of CFLib.org?
From the home page: The purpose of the Common Function Library Project (CFLib.org) is to create a set of user-defined function (UDF) libraries for ColdFusion 5.0. These libraries are open source and may be used and modified to your liking.
That's the "marketing-speak" answer. In truth, we built CFLib.org because we thought UDFs were cool, and, we thought that we could aid other CF developers by creating a place to browse and share UDFs.
Who created CFLib.org?
Raymond Camden and Rob Brooks-Bilson. For more information, see the "Founders" section under About the Project.
Hey, I downloaded a UDF here that didn't work!
As the maintainers of CFLib.org, we do our best to ensure quality, however, like every other human, we are imperfect. That being said, there are a couple of things you should try before emailing us:
- Are you running ColdFusion 5? UDFs are a ColdFusion 5 feature. They will not work in earlier versions of the product.
- Did you properly copy the sample code?
- Do other ColdFusion files on your server run? If not, you have a more serious issue then a broken UDF.
If you are sure the issue is with the UDF, please email us (admin@cflib.org) and give us a detailed description of the error. Let us know exactly what you did and what went wrong.
Should I do anything before submitting my UDF?
The most important thing to do before submitting a UDF is to make sure ColdFusion doesn't already have a function that does the same thing as your UDF. Believe it or not, a few times a month we get submissions for UDFs that mirror existing ColdFusion functions. In general, it is recommended that you check the ColdFusion documentation. (Actually, there is quite a lot of good information in there!)
What standards are required of submitted UDFs?
While we are not super strict on submission standards, the closer you follow them, the easier it will be for us to approve your submission.
- Each variable used by the UDF that is not passed in MUST be declared in a var statement. This includes variables used as loop iterators. (Something must people forget.)
- Please do not include comments in the header of your code. We auto-generate code headers. You can, of course, include short comments within the body of the UDF.
- If your UDF returns a Boolean, it should return either True/False or "Yes"/"No".
- The example code should only show the code in action. Do not use any HTML that you do not need. I.e., <BR> is acceptable, most other tags are not.
- Use "TitleCase" for naming your UDFs. For example, you should name your UDF "StarWars" instead of "starWars" or "Starwars."
- Please see the queue before submitting.
What happens to my UDF after I submit it?
Every UDF submitted must be approved before it is released to the public. The maintainers of CFLib.org both have 9-5 jobs, so this means you may have to wait a while before your UDF is released. We will never rush to release a UDF. We want the code on the site to as high quality as possible. This means that we may change your code. Before doing so, we will email you and inform you of the changes. We may also reject your code. Unlike the Developer's Exchange, we keep strict control over the code released on this site.
Bare in mind that we are not perfect. We have released buggy code, just as everyone else has. We also do not think we are the only people qualified to judge what makes a "good" UDF or not, so, if you have a problem with a decision we have made, we urge you to contact us so we can talk about it.
It is our hope that through these strict quality control measures, the code that you find here will be both stable and good examples of what can be done with the technology.
Note! By submitting your UDF to this site, you give us the right to post your code. This does not mean you give up ownership of the code, however, we retain the right to publish the code until we see fit to remove it. If you have code that you may want to sell at a later time, please do not submit it here.
Will my UDF be modified?
It could be. If you submit a UDF that does not follow the standards, or if we find a bug, or even if we just see a way that your UDF can be improved, we will edit it. However, before we change your code, we will ask. If you do not approve of a change we feel is critical, we will not approve the UDF. Again, CFLib.org is not the Developer's Exchange. We feel by exercising this type of control, we can better ensure the overall quality of the site.
What if I find a problem with a UDF?
If you find a problem with a UDF, or just have an idea to make it better, simply send us an email. You do not have to be the author of a UDF to suggest an improvement.
What does it mean when a UDF returns a Boolean?
ColdFusion allows you to use True/False, 0/(Any number), or "Yes"/"No" for Boolean values. UDFs at CFLib.org that return a Boolean will either return True/False or "Yes"/"No".
How do I update my UDF?
Send us the code. Please do not use the submit form again.
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